Explorers (episode)
Sisko builds a replica of an eight hundred-year-old Bajoran spaceship, and tries to use it to prove that Bajoran explorers could have made it to Cardassia without developing warp drive. Summary Dr. Bashir sits alone in Quark's reading a PADD as a dabo girl, Leeta, approaches him to solicit his help in treating her "cough". The two flirt and he orders them a Fanalian toddy, but Dax interrupts to inform him that an old colleague, Elizabeth Lense, will be arriving on the Lexington in two weeks. Bashir is visibly apprehensive; during his time at Starfleet Academy, he was the salutatorian rather than valedictorian (an honor which went to Lense) due to a simple error. Meanwhile, Sisko has returned from Bajor with plans to build and fly a Bajoran lightship in order to recreate the process by which ancient Bajorans achieved space flight. Although Jake does not intend to accompany him and Chief O'Brien is unsure whether the vessel is even spaceworthy, Sisko begins the laborious task of building a lightship from scratch. Intent on proving the vessel can fly, Sisko plans to fly at least as far as the Denorios belt and possibly all the way to Cardassia, as ancient Bajorans supposedly did. Dax stops by while Sisko is working and pleasantly observes that she has not seen Sisko so excited since he and Jennifer decided to have a baby. Ultimately, Jake decides to accompany his father. Jake and Benjamin bond during their voyage, and they both enjoy the tranquility of the lightship. Benjamin has determined to do things exactly as the Bajorans did – even taking ration packs instead of replicators – with the only exception being the installation of an artificial gravity system, as weightlessness makes him queasy. After weeks of hiding it from even his father, Jake finally asks Benjamin to read a story he has been diligently working on. Morn and Quark have made a bet on how long Bashir will talk with his old schoolmate once she arrives on the station. As usual, Odo has kept tabs on the situation as well. Bashir nervously sits in Quark's with Miles, observing Lense from afar, and finally gets up the nerve to talk to her; however, she walks past him as if he does not exist. Having read Jake's story, Sisko appears reluctant to give his opinion of it. He is genuinely impressed, claiming the story shows "a lot of promise", but does not feel his son has experience with the issues being dealt with in the story. He is interrupted as there is a crash and one of the mast supports gives way, forcing them to jettison one of the lightship's sprits. Without the sail and with a damaged ship, Sisko's enthusiasm about the journey wanes, but Jake encourages his father to press on. " together]] Meanwhile, Bashir and O'Brien drunkenly sing together in the former's quarters. The doctor is perplexed by Elizabeth's reaction (or lack thereof) to him, and the chief notes with amusement that Lense must be either in love with, or unable to stand, his friend. O'Brien encourages him to ask her himself – in the morning, when they are less drunk. Back on the lightship, Jake informs his father that he has been accepted to the prestigious Pennington School on Earth, but has decided to defer admission for a year. The older Sisko relates a story about when he first attended Starfleet Academy, but Jake claims he does not want to leave Ben alone. Their conversation is interrupted as the ship rocks suddenly, caught in a tachyon eddy. The port mainsail breaks off as they accelerate quickly and go to warp for several minutes before coming to a stop. Although they were less than a day from their goal of reaching the Denorios belt, they now have no idea of their location – and are unable to contact Deep Space 9, as the power is offline. The next day, Bashir gets up the courage to confront Lense, who shows no sign of recognition. He discovers that, while at a party of a mutual friend, Lense was mistakenly informed that Bashir was an Andorian. Once the two begin talking, Lense confesses how bored she has been aboard the Lexington, and claims she envies Bashir's opportunity to work on long-term projects. On the second level directly above them, Quark happily informs Morn that he has won their bet. With nothing better to do, the Siskos discuss a freighter captain, Kasidy Yates, to whom Jake wants to introduce Benjamin. He confesses that he has decided to stay aboard DS9 not just for his father but because the station will prove an excellent source of the experience he needs to be a truly great writer. Their conversation is interrupted as several Cardassian warships arrive, headed by Dukat, and congratulate them on having just entered the Cardassian system. Coincidentally, Cardassian Central Command has announced the discovery of an ancient crash site on Cardassia Prime, proving the story about ancient first contact is true. Memorable Quotes "Listen." "I don't hear anything." "Exactly. Not even the hum of an engine. It's almost like being on the deck of an old sailing ship. Except the stars are not just up in the sky; they're all around us." : - Benjamin Sisko and Jake Sisko "Hammock time!" "Yo." : - Benjamin and Jake "You're not an in-between kind of guy. People either love you or hate you." "Really?" "I mean, I ''hated you when I first met you." "''I remember." "And now..." "And now?" "Well... Now, I don't." "That means a lot to me, chief." "And that is from the heart! I really do... not hate you." : - Miles O'Brien and Julian Bashir Background Information * The story for this episode originally would have featured Miles O'Brien rather than Benjamin and Jake Sisko. * The song "Jerusalem", which is sung by O'Brien and Bashir during a drinking binge, was chosen by Colm Meaney after the producers were unable to get the rights to "Louie, Louie", "Rocket Man" or "Space Oddity". * When the Star Trek Customizable Card Game released its "Energize" set in 2003, special pairs of starships and their matching commanders were released as a promotion to commemorate the tenth anniversary of the game's launch. One such pair was "Benjamin Sisko, Shipwright" (whose alignment was Bajoran, rather than Federation) and the ship seen in this episode, which was given the name Baraka. * The Cardassian attitude towards Bajoran "fairy tales" about ancient first contact bears some similarities to some European countries' initial reaction to the notion that Columbus was not the first to "discover" America. * During the conversation between Julian Bashir and Elizabeth Lense, the writers may have been commenting on the comparison between DS9 and other Trek series. Bashir believes Lense "must've had quite an adventure out there... exploring uncharted space, meeting fascinating new races with fascinating new diseases" aboard the USS Lexington, but she instead describes how bored she got between discoveries. The message especially comes through when Lense claims, "I really envy the opportunity you have to work on that kind of long-term project. On the Lexington, it was collect your samples and then on to the next system." Series Firsts * Leeta, who goes on to become Rom's wife, makes her first appearance here. * Kasidy Yates is mentioned for the first time, although she does not appear until the following episode. * Benjamin Sisko (Avery Brooks) sports a goatee for the first time. He keeps the look throughout the series; an additional touch, shaving his head, first appears in the season 4 opener "The Way of the Warrior". * The "awkward" moment O'Brien and Bashir have marks the beginning of a running joke about the chief's love for his best friend. A later example is "Hippocratic Oath", in which he finds himself agreeing completely with Bashir's analysis of a fight he has had with Keiko and stops short of saying he wishes Keiko was a man, much to the doctor's amusement. Bajoran Lightship * The Lightship may have been inspired by the voyage of the Kon-Tiki, a deliberately primitive sailing craft that Norwegian explorer, Thor Heyerdahl, used in 1947 to prove that it was possible that a Pre-Columbian South America civilization could have settled Polynesia by making a trans-oceanic voyage. * Production designer Herman Zimmerman and illustrator Jim Martin envisioned the Siskos as "sailors in space" and intentionally made the set of the lightship similar to a sailing boat. Some real sailing equipment can even be seen in the background at various point in the episode. Both men count this episode among their favorites to work on from a design point of view. Zimmerman mentions the episode in the Star Trek V: The Final Frontier Special Edition DVD special feature "Herman Zimmerman: A Tribute". * John Knoll at Industrial Light & Magic created the lightship as a CGI model. He later used the model for Akorem Laan's ship in "Accession". * The Space Frontier Foundation at its 1995 convention recognized this episode for exemplifying "the most imaginitive use of a vehicle to travel in space". * Most shots of the lightship are from the aft (rear) because, being powered by solar "currents", the ship always has its back to the Bajoran sun. Links and References Guest Stars * Marc Alaimo as Dukat * Bari Hochwald as Dr. Elizabeth Lense * Chase Masterson as Leeta References ancient contact; Bajor; Bajoran; Bajoran First Republic; Bajoran lightship; Cardassian; Cardassian system; Cardassian history; Cygnian; dabo girl; Denorios belt; Erib; Fanalian toddy; hammock; infirmary; ion storm; Jerusalem; laser; Leanne; ''Lexington'', USS; Lucier, Bruce; money; New Year's Eve; New Zealand; Nog; Pennington School; Romulan; salutatorian; tachyon; tachyon eddy; T-cell anomaly; transporter credit; valedictorian; Wellington |next= }} Category:DS9 episodes de:Die Erforscher es:Explorers nl:Explorers